 Twenty drivers are automatically qualified, as either race winners from 2011 and ‘12 or past champions of the All-Star event. Two more will transfer via the top two positions in the Sprint Showdown, a 40-lap preliminary race, and another through a fan vote.

 Before the second, third and fourth segments of the All-Star Race, there is an optional pit stop in which teams may elect to pit for fuel, tires and chassis adjustments. Teams pitting will not retain their position on the track.

 Before the final segment, there is a mandatory pit stop in which teams may pit for fuel, tires and chassis adjustments. Tires are not mandatory during the stop. The winners of the first four segments will move to the front of the field prior to the final segment, and be the first cars coming to pit road.

 Prior to the final segment, cars will line up in the order in which they exited pit road.

7:22 p.m. ET — The U.S. Army Brass Brigade is performing “God Bless America.” And here come four T-38s for the fly over!

7:21 p.m. ET — John Cox, the president and CEO of the Cabarrus Regional Chamber of Commer, is giving the invocation.

7:16 p.m. ET — The Sprint Showdown will feature two 20-lap segments.

7:03 p.m. ET — Driver introductions for the Sprint Showdown are starting. As productions go, this doesn’t quite match up to intros for the Sprint All-Star Race.

11:39 a.m. ET — AJ Allmendinger is on the pole for the Sprint Showdown after laying down a lap at a sizzling speed of 192.465 mph during qualifying. Martin Truex Jr., Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Burton and Aric Almirola took second through fifth. Landon Cassill, Juan Montoya, Bobby Labonte, Travis Kvapil and David Stremme rounded out the top 10.

The first two finishers in this race will transfer into the Sprint All-Star Race, and one will get in through a fan vote.

Could you untwist that so this ole farm boy can understand WHY. It reminds of Redwood Acres back in the Hard Top days. All that’s missing is potholes deep enough to shake the RR iron off the bumpers...

26
posted on 05/19/2012 4:49:54 PM PDT
by tubebender
(I always wanted to be somebody, but now I realize I should have been more specific.)

Lap 40 — CHECKERED FLAG: Dale Earnhardt Jr. takes the victory, while AJ Allmendinger completes his charge back from the near-disaster at the beginning of the race to finish second and make it into the Sprint All-Star Race.

Lap 38 — Jamie McMurray bobbles coming off the second corner, and AJ Allmendinger jumps under him for the spot.

Lap 36 — AJ Allmendinger appears to be biding his time in going after Jamie McMurray for second place, the final transfer spot into the all-star race.

Lap 31 — As AJ Allmendinger continues his charge toward second place, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is building on his cushion over current runnerup Jamie McMurray.

Lap 29 — AJ Allmendinger is catching Jamie McMurray for second place, and he’s doing it very quickly.

Lap 27 — Third-place Martin Truex Jr. has a mirror full of AJ Allmendinger, who makes his move coming off Turn 4.

Lap 23 — AJ Allmendinger roars past Juan Montoya for fifth place. Remember ... he had to pit with a flat tire just as the race started!

Lap 22 — Jamie McMurrray clears Martin Truex Jr. for second place.

Lap 21 — GREEN FLAG: The top five are Dale Earnhardt Jr., Martin Truex Jr., Jeff Burton, Jamie McMurray and Aric Almirola. Joey Logano, Casey Mears, Juan Montoya, Landon Cassil and AJ Allmendinger round out the top 10. Let’s see how long older tires last against those who pitted.

Dale Earnhardt Jr. is well clear of the field in Turn 1. Jamie McMurray goes after Martin Truex Jr. for second place.

8:34 p.m. ET — Driver introductions for the Sprint All-Star Race are starting. Each is being brought out with a video made by a fan.

8:19 p.m. ET — Bobby Labonte is the fan vote entrant. How cool for team owners Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty!

8:16 p.m. ET — So ... Dale Earnhardt Jr. and AJ Allmendinger have made it into the main event. Now who’s going to get in on the fan vote?

12:03 p.m. ET — This year’s edition of the Sprint All-Star Race will consist of five segments for the first time in the history of the event. Four 20-lap sprints will set up a 10-lap finale. The winners of each of the first four segments will start first through fourth for the final dash for the cash, with the rest of the field determined by how they roll off pit road.

11:50 a.m. ET — Kyle Busch is on the pole for the Sprint All-Star Race after a three-lap qualifying effort Friday that included a mandatory pit stop. The 136.006 mph average for the trio of circuits put Busch atop the field, just ahead of Ryan Newman. Denny Hamlin will start third, followed by Greg Biffle and Kevin Harvick in the top five. Jimmie Johnson, Paul Menard, Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart and Regan Smith are sixth through 10th.

Three more entires will be added to the 20-car field following the Sprint Showdown and announcement of a fan vote. The first two finishers in the qualifying race make the move into the main event, while the top vote getter also transfer. If that driver finishes first or second, the final spot would go to the competitor with the next-highest total.

There’s a catch. The winner of the vote must finish on the lead lap in the Showdown with a car in race-ready condition.

CONCORD, N.C. — Brian France, chairman and CEO of NASCAR, said Saturday that he is pleased with the direction the 2012 season has taken.

“It’s been a good, solid year,” France said prior to the Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

France touched on several subjects, including the early portion of Danica Patrick’s first full-time season as a driver in the Nationwide Series.

“She’s brought visibility to the sport, which we knew she would,” France said. “More importantly, she’s made improvements. That was her stated goal, and she’s been getting better and better. I think her runs reflect that, and that’ll be what determines her impact in the end — how well she competes.”

Speaking of the Nationwide Series and new drivers who are making an impact, France touched on Sunday’s debut of African-American driver Darrell Wallace Jr. at Iowa Speedway.

“It’s big if he competes well,” France said. “He’s someone with some of the most promising talent who is an African-American who has come through our diversity program. He has been dominant in the K&N Series, which is very competitive where a lot of the talented sons of some of the best competitors here in the garage compete. He’s winning [in that series], and we’ll see how it goes with him in the Nationwide race here this weekend.

“But look, that’s a breakthrough if that materializes. And if not with him, somebody’s going to walk in the door and be a star — and it’s going to be very good for us.”

France added that he’s not surprised it has taken so long for someone like Wallace to rise through the racing ranks after participating in NASCAR’s Drive for Diversity program.
...

France added that NASCAR wants to make certain it stays ahead of the curve in competition areas going forward.

“Listen, we have a new car coming in 2013, so we want to make sure we’re as good as we can be with the on-track racing. We’re putting more effort into getting that right,” France said. “We also get thrown some curveballs like tandem racing, which fans didn’t care for as much. So from time to time, we have big things that affect the quality of racing. We just want to make sure we’re able to get at those solutions faster, better. Our group is going to get that done.

“Our goal is to always take moments with new cars and new opportunities to make the racing better.”

All of the politically correct NASCAR stuff will sink them. The diversity, green and eco programs are going to lead them to invest their future in programs to power the tracks using unicorns running on big hamster wheel generators.

45
posted on 05/19/2012 6:01:16 PM PDT
by MtnClimber
(To the left wrong is right, down is up and backward is "Forward")

9:04 p.m. ET — After the presentation of colors by the 14th Weather Squadron, US Air Force, Asheville, N.C., the invocation is given by Joe Gibbs. He looks familiar ...

8:59 p.m. ET — Five minutes to the start of the invocation and national anthem.

8:50 p.m. ET — Dale Earnhardt Jr. is being introduced. He doesn’t have a video. Dang. That would have been fun.

8:47 p.m. ET — Kevin Harvick’s video was the first to feature a kid. You gotta go with a kid, right?

8:44 p.m. ET — So far, Mark Martin’s crew is winning the battle of what they’re tossing out to the crowd. Most teams are throwing out hats, but Martin’s had him sign each one as he walked across the stage.

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